After running the 4K distance in cross country for years, South Dakota high school girls will run 5K—the same distance as the boys—starting in 2015. The South Dakota High School Athletic Association made the change official on June 10.

At the beginning of the year, girls raced a shorter distance than the boys in cross country in seven states. Now only three remain. South Dakota became the fourth state in the past six months to make the change, joining Iowa[1], Minnesota[2], and Kansas[3] in the switch.

Only in North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas do girls run a shorter distance than boys. (In Oklahoma and Texas, girls from smaller schools run 3.2K while girls from the large schools race 5K.)

“After gathering input from our coaches, athletic directors, and member schools on our girls' cross country distance, I feel that our Board of Directors did a great job in listening to our member schools on making the switch to a 5K state final for our female athletes,” SDHSAA Assistant Executive Director John Krogstrand said in a statement[4].

In South Dakota, the vote to increase the distance was overwhelming, especially in Class AA and A, according to SDHSAA:

Class AA: There were 17 votes in favor of moving to 5K, 0 votes in favor of staying at 4K.

Class A: There were 32 votes in favor of moving to 5K, 8 votes in favor of staying at 4K.

Class B: There were 29 votes in favor of moving to 5K, 25 votes in favor of staying at 4K.

It’s not only in high school that men and women run different distances[5]. In college cross country, women race 6K while the men race 8K (they run 10K in championship races). In international cross country competition, women race 8K while men race 12K.